The present invention relates to cooling apparatus, and also to a cooling method, for reducing the risk of, and/or alleviating, male infertility in heated environments.
Temporary or permanent infertile marriages are, in many cases, attributable to poor male semen quality emanating from prolonged exposures of the scrotal area, and the testicles in particular, to elevated temperatures. This condition, termed varicocele, may be alleviated by surgical intervention, called varicocelectomy, a procedure in which inflated veins are sutured. This procedure has a success rate of about 40%; in addition, it may have to be repeated in case a varicocele-relating poor semen condition recurs. Another common method of treatment of this condition is assisted reproduction.
An alternative, noninvasive method of treatment involves the systematic and controlled lowering of the temperature to which the scrotal area is exposed. Experience shows that prolonged reduction of the temperature of the scrotal area by about 3-5° C., may be effective in reversing male infertility to the extent that conception could be achieved, thus obviating the need for surgical or other interventions.
In the past, various means and devices have been proposed to achieve scrotal cooling. These include:
(1) disposable devices containing endothermic chemical compounds which absorb heat by a produced chemical reaction and thereby are capable of diminishing local temperatures for the limited duration of the reaction; these devices, however, require frequent replacement of the chemical compounds and lack basic control capabilities; and
(2) devices utilizing the latent heat of vaporization of an evaporative liquid, or the latent heat of liquefaction of a liquefying solid; these devices, however, also require frequent recharging and replacement of the spent materials and also lack basic control capabilities.
Also known are devices with electrically-driven cooling sources, e.g., Peltier thermoelectric units, for cooling the head or other body parts, which devices usually present cooling surfaces in direct contact with the body area to be cooled. These devices, although inherently possessing control capabilities, require heat dissipation in immediate proximity to the treated areas, which renders them unsuitable for treating those body areas which are traditionally covered with clothes, e.g., the scrotal area.